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7/31/2011

"Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do not know what is going to happen next, and in querying every item day and night. Victory and defeat are matters of the temporary force of circumstances." From The Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai

This should have been up last night, but Courtney and I had a date to celebrate her passing her CCRN exam, and I just didn't feel like interrupting a rare night together to come type this up! By the way, the place we went for dinner was great. If you live in Lubbock, Gilbert's Bar & Grill has a reservations-only dinner on Saturday nights. It's served family style to your table, and you don't order, they just bring out platters of fantastic Chinese food. Try it out. Let us know if you're going, because we may want to join you.

Well, I made it. A month of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lessons, and here I am at the end of it. If I do say so myself, the final lesson of the month might have also been the best one.

Tony started the class with an interesting lesson and exercise. He asked us what we do once we get our opponent into a mount or control situation. "What you do in practice is what you're going to do in a fight. If you hold back, you're training your mind to hold back when you compete. You should always look for the opportunity to end the fight." To emphasize this, we worked on two things during class: arm submissions and grip.

To illustrate the importance of grip, Tony had two of his assistant instructors and three of the absolute top students from class come to the center of the room. Then he made them each hold two tennis balls, and sent five of us out to wrestle them. Now, none of these guys were slouches - they still held their own, but you could tell that it was much more difficult for them to find their game than usual. I wrestled Gabe, an assistant instructor, and held out for much longer than I could have if he'd been empty handed.

We spent the rest of class working on arm submissions from the side control position (think of a classic wrestling pin, where one arm controls the head, the other is hooked beneath an armpit, and your chest is on top of theirs). A submission is the fastest way to end a match, but you won't get one if you can't maintain your grip on your opponent's arm. Even if they are able to maneuver their way out of the submission, as long as you hold on to them you can work them into another.

At the end of class, we repeated the exercise where we grappled against the top people in class, making sure to stay mindful of what we'd learned. This time I was up against Chris, the other assistant instructor. He's a pretty fast guy. I stood in front of him, though, and it was like things just clicked. I passed his guard and quickly got down and into the side control position. From behind me, I heard Tony give an impressed, "Yes! Gooood..." That was right up there with the guys shouting encouragement to me the other night as one of the top moments of the month.

We got back with our partners, and ended with wrestling again. I was pretty evenly matched with Rob, a Tech student, and we kind of reached a stalemate for a while where we both had the other locked down. Then I made my move, locked him down beneath my legs, and pulled his arm through for an arm bar. My last match of the month, and I won it by submission.

I got in the car, turned it on, and "Staying Alive" was playing on the radio. Damn right, BeeGees.